Legend Trilogy: Part l: City of Caelum
by AngelTheSeventh
Summary: 16-year-old Jade Paladin is exiled from her home village, blamed for a crime she didn't commit. She sets off, angry and uncertain, forced to survive the harsh wilderness of the OverEarth alone. That is, until she meets Jordan Phoenix, a confused boy with no memory of his past. They join forces to seek the truth, unleashing a chain of events that will shake the world to its core.
1. Prologue

**Hullo, people. AngelTheSeventh here!**

**Sorry if you checked this out earlier and it said [TEST DOCUMENT]. That was my bad. I really have no idea what I'm doing. Anyway, I think I've figured it out now, so it should be good from here on out. Hopefully…**

**So, first fanfic, but not first story I've written. This is just the prologue, and don't expect the first chapter for a while yet, but I may surprise you!**

**One last thing: Reviews help a bunch, but let's keep the criticism constructive. And no trolling or flames please, I have absolutely no time for that crap. If you have questions, you can either PM me or ask in reviews. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoy!**

The night was dark, the stars faint and far away. The new moon was high in the black sky. The only reason the girl knew it was there was because of the absence of stars in that one place. She sat cross-legged on the topmost leaves of the birch, gazing at the sky. One might glance up at night and not give it a second thought. Not this girl. She gazed at the twinkling orbs and pictured other worlds, much unlike her own, orbiting around them, and on those worlds were other creatures, them too looking at the black sky. Maybe looking straight at her.

Her imagination ran wild. She knew how dangerous it was to be outside so late into the night. But she forgot about all of that when her mind was left to wander. She wasn't far from home, she could see the lights of her village from where she sat.

No one there was like her at all. The creatures of the night terrified them. True, they scared her too, but she was a thoughtful child. She knew that, however terrible the monsters seemed, they were still creatures. They had hearts, they could feel, had minds, they could think. They weren't the mindless killing machines that most people thought they were, at least not all of them. This girl knew that, because she had befriended some of them. Just then, a creeper named Crysallxius was standing by the trunk of her birch, looking out for her.

The girl was ten years old, and had known the creeper since he was an egg. To her, that proved mobs had emotions, and could love. If they couldn't, how could they mate, and lay eggs? Everyday, she went into the forest to meet with her creeper friend. Since she had just turned ten, she would be starting school soon, and wouldn't be able to see him as much anymore. So this was her goodbye to him, at least for now.

Notch sighed as he looked into the scrying cube. This girl confused him more than anything else.

"Young Jade," he muttered. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Hey! You could put her in a prophecy," piped a voice behind him. Notch turned around. It was his daughter, the Valkyrie queen, standing on the hill. Notch sighed.

"Vivi, you must know that I don't control the prophecies," he chided. He had told her a million times.

Vivian was wearing her white robes with the gold belt, a silver sword at her side that he had never seen her use. Being immortal, she could appear at any age. She had chosen to be ten, like the girl in his cube. No matter what age she chose, she always had pale blue eyes and short, wavy blond hair. And was difficult as Nether.

"But you_ are_ a god, are you not? Surely you control everything!" She crossed her arms, glaring at him. Notch scowled.

"No, I don't control everything! I can't control you, or your decision to marry the Sun Spirit!"

Vivian kept glaring. "The Sun Spirit is very kind! You don't know him like I do! And anyway, if you are the most powerful being ever, why can't you control the prophecies?"

Notch turned around, putting his scrying cube into the pockets in his robes. "Even I am not the most powerful thing ever." He spoke softly, and Vivian could hardly hear him. She trotted closer to her father. "But what could be more powerful than you?" She was shocked, the young goddess.

Notch set off walking along the edges of the hill, heading back to the palace. "Fate is more powerful. Chance. I cannot control those things." Vivian hurried to keep up. "Is that what controls the prophecies, Father?" Notch had his back to her. "Partially. You are too young to understand." He kept walking, and said nothing more.

**Well, here's the prologue. I hoped reading it was worth your while. Please review, bearing in mind what I said earlier.**

**Expect the chapters to be much longer. I made the prologue short 'cause I felt like it.**

**I may not get the first chapter out till December, but while you're waiting, check out some other great Minecraft stories. I have a list on my profile, if you want to see it.**

**Angel out.**


	2. The End?

**Well, I really surprised myself. I had an extra chunk of time on Wednesday, and I used it to crank out chapter 1.**

**I don't really have anything else important to say, but if you have a question for me, whether it be about the story or whatever, don't be afraid to ask me. I don't bite. Not usually.**

**And now… Please enjoy Chapter 1: The End?**

**-{0}-**

I flinched as the teacher slapped her hand down on my desk, grabbed my test paper, and whisked it back towards her body. I scowled faintly at her, irritation welling up inside me as she moved down the row of desks. How hard was it for her to simply _take_ the paper without slapping my desk? Well, whatever…She always acted like that during tests.

The one I had just taken was on the three dimensions. The End was only a myth, so it wasn't really included all that much.

I sat back in my chair, still scowling. I have a short temper, and I tend to get irritated easily. I watched as the teacher as she quickly collected the rest of the papers, and hurried back to her desk in the front of the room. She sat down, letting out a fatigued sigh as she did so. Immediately, the class burst into conversation.

I sighed and sat back. Their conversations bored me. All they did was gossip, and I didn't pay much attention to that stuff. I closed my eyes, thinking about nothing in particular. I secretly considered myself to be smarter than the rest of them, but not in a vain way. I just…I don't know. I _knew_ more. About pretty much everything. I paid more attention to stuff, and was a Nether of a lot more logical.

Believe it or not, I do have friends, though. Rysa and Torren are my closest ones. As I let my thoughts wander, I was interrupted by one of them. Someone tapped my shoulder, but I didn't want to open my eyes to see who it was.

"What is it?" I muttered. "Jade, open your eyes." Torren's voice. I obediently opened my eyes. Although he was my friend, I didn't like being interrupted when I was lost in thought.

"Jade, I thought you might be interested in their conversation." He jerked his thumb back to the library section near the door, where the seven other kids were seeming to be having a subtle argument about something. Yeah, my village was so small, the library and schoolhouse where combined.

"Doubt it," I said, sitting up. Torren shook his black haired head. "No, really! They're debating about whether the…the End exists." I perked up at this. "_Really?_ An intellectually stimulating conversation? _That'd_ be a first." I stood up on my chair and hopped over the desks to get to the group. There were three rows of three seats, and my seat was against the left wall in the first row, so I very conveniently wouldn't be able to get out of my seat if the one next to me was occupied.

Torren followed me to the conversing group, and I leaned against the wall by the door, listening to the argument. A girl, Selena, was talking. "-don't think it's real at all. I mean, really, there's no proof at all! Just 'cause we sometimes see these black things running around doesn't mean anything!" Selena's one of those real snobby types, who wear too much makeup and think they're _so _superior.

"Oh, I beg to differ," I broke in, stepping into the group. Selena glared at me. She doesn't like me at all, for reasons I can only begin to imagine. "Oh, it's _you,_" she hissed. "Who says you get a say in this conversation?"

I maintained my cool composure. "Who says I don't?" When no one said anything, I continued. "We don't just sometimes see black things running around. It's much more important than that. No, these _black things_—Endermen—aren't just regular hostile mobs. They have a deeper history, and much less is known about them."

"So?" Selena snapped. I glanced at her. "Let me finish. Remember the pigmen?" Some nodded. "One day about four thousand years ago, my ancestor, Heiro Paladin discovered the Nether Portal. But a zombie pigman from the Nether side wandered too close, and was sucked in. At least, that's the theory. Years later, they found it wandering around, and years after that, they found Heiro's portal." My ancestor was secretive, and didn't share the fact that he had found a new dimension with anyone else. "They found that pigmen are abundant in the Nether, so the same thing could be true for Endermen."

Selena flipped her blond hair like she was all that, then said, "That doesn't mean anything. And besides, the Men aren't new or anything. They appeared, like, three thousand years ago."

I nodded. "You're right, Selena. Just before the War of the Realms, they appeared. But the question is, where did they come from?" I glanced at the group. Selena fiddled with a strand of her hair, having nothing to say. I had stumped her, along with everyone else in the room. They were all silent. Max and Moira, the twins, just looked confused. They were twelve, so I didn't expect them to really get it.

Every village had a different schooling system. For my village, Tellun, kids went to school from ages ten to fifteen. We had school every other day, and got no days off unless something important happened, like a death or mob attack. There was only one class, and since the village was so tiny, just nine kids. But for kids like me, who were finishing their fifth year of school, got to move on to the next step, the Initiation Program. After we turned sixteen, we take five major tests, and had to score a 95% average or higher or we didn't pass. Don't pass and you're in for another year of school. When you did pass, you made a decision: Stay and build your house in the village, or venture out across OverEarth and live your own life. I already knew what my choice was, but I was waiting to see if anything changed my mind. I was pretty sure nothing would.

"I'm sure you're all having just a _wonderful _time talking about matters as dark as that, but return to your seats, please. I'll be handing out your graded tests, now." Ms. Jackson announced from around the corner at her desk. I was a bit surprised at how fast she had graded, but hey. I hurried to my seat to be the first one, because I really didn't want to have to crawl over anyone just to sit down. The rest of my classmates took their seats a little more slowly. Some looked nervous. I rolled my eyes. This stuff was so easy for me, I didn't even study. When I was, like, five, my bedtime story was OverEarth's History: Complete Edition. I knew the basics before I came to school, so I guess you could say I have an advantage.

I watched as Ms. Jackson slowly rose from her chair. She was only in her early fifties, but she moved like she was ninety. Anyway, once she was up, she gave me back my paper first, then quickly handed out the rest. On my paper, there was a big, fat 100% written in dark blue squid's ink across the top. Selena was glaring at me again. After a quick glance down, I learned she had gotten a 75%. I didn't smirk like I wanted to. I was too good for that.

I turned around to see what my friends got. Rysa sat in the back row, but managed to catch my eye. She mouthed, _ninety five,_ and I gave her a thumbs up. She didn't try to ask what I got. She already knew. Torren, I later learned had gotten a 100 as well.

Mrs. Jackson had returned to the front of the room, and had started to speak. I twisted around to listen. "Now, there's one more day of school left for those on their fifth year. That would be Torren, Rysa, Selena, and Jade." Yes, I thought. Initiation was soon. "The four of you need to study for your finals. There are five, keep in mind. The rest of you, after the day after tomorrow, you don't have school till the Initiation Programs are completed." I heard a few cheers around the room. If I were them, I wouldn't be cheering. I'd be straight up jealous. I remembered my last years, and how I wished I could be the ones about to be tested. Well, the day was almost here. "Dismissed," Ms. Jackson barked. I started to pack my things into my leather sack, but most of the other kids never bothered with that. They shot out the door as if fired out of a TNT cannon.

Usually, I was last out the door. Rysa and Torren usually waited for me. They did today. As I put my textbooks in my bag, they chattered nervously about the Initiation Program. "Aren't you the least bit worried?" Rysa asked Torren. "Nope," he said, which I knew was a lie.

I'd always suspected Torren had a crush on Rysa, but like I said, I don't gossip. He tries to act all tough around her though, like today, denying he was nervous. Not that he isn't tough, but you can see the difference when he's around me or when he's around her. I'm telling the truth when I say I'm not jealous, though. He's the only boy in this village that's my age, and I don't like him at all in that way.

Anyway…I finally got my stuff together, and we walked out of the schoolhouse together. When we got down the steps, we would turn the corner and go around the well. Then the gravel path would lead to my house, farther down would be my friends'. On the left side of the path was the mayor's house, located next to the school. And next to that was the guards' quarters. The quarters were underground, to save space. The entrance was above ground.

"Hey, do ya'll wanna come to my house to study?" Rysa asked. Right away, Torren said, "Sure!" They looked at me. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. "Sorry, guys! I'm busy this afternoon." They looked crestfallen. But they weren't surprised. They knew I usually was pretty busy. I was the blacksmith's daughter, after all.

The blacksmith/village miner was my mother, actually. Sadie Paladin was her name. Most people thought those jobs were meant for men. But my mother was a lot tougher than she looked, like me. Every day I had school, she'd usually be in the mines. Sometimes I worried, though. It was dangerous down there. Sometimes I worried she wouldn't come back. I really love my mother; she's the only family I got. But I could count on her; she always did come back.

Anyway, when I got home, the first thing I did was check if she was home, and she wasn't. I sighed. I wanted to show her my test, but that could wait.

I glanced out my window to see my friends walk past. But something just beyond them caught my eye. Movement from the forest. I looked harder. Wolf? No. the 'forest' was just a tiny sliver of woods next to the village. Yes, a pack of wolves did live there, but we hardly ever saw them. No, what I had seen was something a bit bigger than a wolf. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the face peek out from the cover of the trees. Creeper! But this was one I recognized. Crysallxius was his name. I called him that because it meant creeper in the old language. Well, I knew why he was spying on the village. Most likely he wanted to see me. We sometimes met at night, but he never came this close to people.

I set my stuff down on the table and took a few apples out of a chest in the corner. Yes, he liked apples. Just because he's technically a hostile mob doesn't mean he's carnivorous. I don't know who started that rumor.

Anyway, I quickly hurried out the door and stopped on my large stone porch. It wasn't a porch, really, it was where we crafted things like swords for the guards. I scanned the area to make sure no one was watching. No one was outside; all I could hear was the animal noises from the pens behind the houses. I dashed for it, sprinting down the steps of my house and down the gravel path, going around the market, the building closest to the woods. When I made it to the cover of the trees, I stopped running and watched as my creeper friend emerged from behind the oak where he was spying.

"C, what's wrong?" I asked, tossing him an apple, which he caught in his mouth. He made a series of hissing sounds, which I couldn't comprehend. Over the years I had learned a few phrases in Creepish, things like, "I'm hungry" and "Give me the apple," but I had no idea what Crysallxius was trying to say. But I listened and he started to make sounds like a wolf's bark. "Wolves?" I asked. He furiously shook his head. He barked again, but just one bark this time. I thought a minute. "Wolf?" He nodded. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for figuring that one out, but the creeper wasn't done. He hissed again, a hiss that meant 'follow.' He turned and crept off, farther away from the village.

I tilted my head. What was he trying to tell me? I quickly ran to catch up. When I did, he was peering down a hill, where an adult wolf was napping. Crysallxius angled his head towards the wolf's footprint in the dirt near where it lay. Once more he told me to follow him, and he took off. I don't know how he moved so fast with those little stubby feet of his, but somehow he managed it.

"Hm." Something to do with wolves, obviously. I set off after him. When I caught up, he was on the plain on the other side of the woods, looking at something in the grass. I looked down at it, and at first I struggled to comprehend what it was. "My Notch," I breathed, jaw dropping.

What I saw can't be explained. It was shocking. It was…a giant wolf footprint, three times larger than the normal ones. "C, what the Nether?"

Crysallxius simply shrugged.

"Are you trying to warn me?" I asked, and C shrugged again. I tilted my head, then crouched down to better examine the print. "Did…did you see a giant wolf, C?" I glanced up at him to get his answer, and he nodded. "Hm."

Suddenly I got nervous. If a large wolf had been here, then it could _still_ be here, and it could attack Tellun. Wolves had attacked before, with disastrous results. I couldn't imagine what a wolf as big as this one could do. "Did it seem hostile, C?" It sounded like a ridiculous question. Ha, a wolf that wasn't hostile just was unheard of. But then again, so where creepers that understood humans….Hm.

But surprisingly, Crysallxius's answer to my question was no.

I didn't know what to make of it all. "Is this all you wanted to show me?" Nod. He then turned and started scuttling back towards the trees, and I was forced to abandon the print to follow him.

Back near the village, I said goodbye to my creeper friend, and he vanished back into the trees, and I jogged down the hill to get back home. Hopefully my mother hadn't gotten back yet, and if she did, hadn't noticed my absence. Which was impossible. She would know I wasn't there.

Anyways, as I climbed the steps to my boxy cobblestone house, I tried to push the wolf thing out of my mind, which was incredibly difficult. I slipped in the door and peeked around the corner to see if my mother was there, and she wasn't. **(A/N: Her house is like any blacksmith's house you find in a village; just wanted to clear that up.) **Even my mother didn't know one of my best friends was a creeper. She would have a heart attack if she found out.

I got lucky today, though. The second I sat down on the queen-sized bed to read, Sadie walked in.

"Jade! Hi! You'll never guess what I found in the mines today…" I looked up at her. Yep, I was here the whole time. "Emeralds?" I asked. My mother rolled her pale green eyes at me. "No, Jade." She plunked her mining bag on the table, and hung her diamond pic on the hook on the wall. She was covered in dust and a little wet from all the underground lakes, but she looked fine.

Her darkish brown hair was tied back, and she was wearing a burn-resistant leather tunic and pants. Her boots were iron, her belt was stone links, which were holding all sorts of underground treasures that she couldn't fit in her bag.

"I found some obsidian. I usually don't go that deep, but I think I should more often." She reached into her bag, pulling out the minimized dark bluish cubes. I examined them before going back to my book.

"What are you reading?" She asked me. I closed the leather-bound book and showed her the cover. "The Legend of Steve," she read aloud. "True story, you know. Or most of it." I nodded. "I know, Mom."

Sadie started to unpack her findings into our mining chest. Our village didn't really have a unit of currency, we mostly used barter. You will never_ believe_ how much some people will give for a single gold ingot. We've got it pretty good, and for that I'm grateful.

-{0}-

Much later, I was on the porch smelting the iron ore my mom found. Right then I was leaning against the iron railing, watching the sun set. Sadie had found two and a half stacks of ore, and I was on the last half stack. She was already in bed, us having eaten dinner(mushroom stew) and being exhausted from a day underground, but not me. I usually did all the smelting and crafting, and I had extra to do today.

A soft breeze blew, and I shivered. The months were getting colder, now, and more and more hostile mobs were spawning near our village. Sometimes zombies tried to beat down the doors, so we made iron ones, and that took care of that problem. And speaking of iron… The light from the furnaces faded, just as the light from the sun did. Uh oh, I thought.

I had mixed opinions on mobs, but zombies didn't have mixed opinions on humans. They weren't too picky on who they killed. Anyway, I quickly got out the ingots, and I had to make a few trips to get it all inside. I was so glad when I finally did, I was tired enough to sleep while standing.

Sighing, I slipped under the red woolen covers of the bed I shared with Sadie. My clothes were grimy from the charcoal in the furnaces, but I couldn't care less at the time. There were no heating systems in the village, so I pulled the covers up to my neck and closed my eyes. I steadied my breathing, and let the screams from the mobs outside lull me to sleep.

-{0}-

**How do you like Chapter 1?**

**Its main purpose was just to introduce you to the characters and the village, so no actual plot yet. That will be revealed in time. Anyway, please tell me what you think in the reviews.**

**I'll start working on chapter 2 as soon as I get a chance, and that will be up before long. Sorry about telling you there would be a much longer wait between the prologue and chapter 1, I really thought I wouldn't have time to post. Fortunately, I do.**

**Adios!**


	3. Nightmare

**Yo.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft. Wish I did, but…**

**REVIEW. Jeez, people. If you have something to say to me about anything at all, tell me. I read the reviews! I'll probably respond. **

**Well, 1.7 update came out! SO HAPPY. It is epic. Although I did spend, like an hour trying to find a mega-taiga biome on survival, but no luck. They put biomes in temperature groups, which I guess makes it more realistic, but if you're lost in a desert, you have no freaking hope to find mega-taiga.**

**Sorry about my rambling. Anyway, this is Chapter 2: Nightmare. Read on!**

**-{0}-**

Sleep has never come easily to me, and I don't know what the reason is. It's not insomnia, it's just… I can't explain it. When I finally do get to sleep, I'm plagued with nightmares. All my life it's been going on. When I was little I would wake up screaming, not being able to stop. I don't scream anymore, but I'm still terrified.

Tonight was no different than the rest of them. First, I was enveloped by a vortex of mysterious purple particles that clouded my vision and blinded me. I opened my mouth in a silent scream as I was tossed every which way in the relentless purple storm. I felt my feet hit the ground, and the storm was gone as quickly as it came. As I caught my breath and took in my surroundings, I realized I was standing in a meadow, filled with poppies and other wildflowers. I gazed around, but something seemed…off. The colors were faded, and every so often, would switch to grayscale, then back to color again.

Then I heard footsteps behind me. I whirled around and saw a man trudging in my direction. I took a few uncertain steps toward him, wondering if he was friendly. For all I knew, he could be a mass murderer.

"Um, hello? Sir?" I called. The man paid no notice to my voice, but I knew he was close enough to hear me. I tilted my head as he came closer. I noticed he was wearing a full suit of iron armor, his helmet slanted forward so I couldn't see his face. He was clutching something in his arms, something wrapped in a gray cloth. He clung to it like a lifeline. From what I could tell, he was somewhere in his late twenties. He was now about six feet away from me.

"I'm sorry, but could you tell me—Ah!" I yelped as he walked right…through me. I mean literally right through me, as if I wasn't even there.

Then I got it. This had happened already, so to this man, I really wasn't there. This was a memory, not my own.

I looked behind me, and he was now climbing a hill. I watched as he disappeared behind it. I dashed up the hill to follow him, but when I got to the top, I could no longer see him. "Where…" I whispered. Then I looked down and realized that beneath this hill was an entrance to a cave system. Caves were nothing new to me; Sadie had taken me with her underground on several occasions before. I didn't hesitate to follow the man inside.

I lowered my body over the edge of the cave's mouth, then dropped down in front of it. I strolled forward into the gaping hole, not feeling the least bit of fear. I could very faintly see light from a torch the man must've been holding, so I jogged forward to catch up. Soon, we came to the end of the tunnel, a vein of coal blocking the way. The man placed his torch on the wall, then went over to the right cave wall, next to where I was standing. With his foot, he reached under a tiny overhang and stepped on the stone. I heard a barely audible click. Pressure plate. Then a grinding sound from behind the walls was heard, and the vein of coal suddenly vanished, moved out of the way by pistons. Behind the wall, however, was a series of seven stone colored buttons. With one hand, the man reached forward and very quickly pressed the buttons in certain order. Again, a grinding was heard, and that wall was also moved out of the way, this time to reveal a cave. Before proceeding, the man glanced over his shoulder, as if to make sure no one was watching. For a brief moment, I saw his face. Bright hazel eyes suddenly met my dark blue ones, and my heart dropped in fear he had somehow sensed my presence. But he hadn't, as that was impossible.

Together, we cautiously walked into the wide cavern, and beheld a giant rectangular obsidian frame. "Nether frame?" I squeaked, my voice a few octaves higher than normal. The man stepped forward, then knelt in front of the unfinished frame. He began to unwrap what was in his arms, and I came forward to see it. It was a dark, grayish, rocky orb, with a few orange crystals growing out of it. A fire charge, very rare and difficult to obtain.

The man stood up, and tossed the fire charge in the air. In midair it caught fire, and landed inside the obsidian frame.

"Damn white squid," I suddenly heard the man darkly mutter. "So difficult to repair…"

White squid? Ghasts? Did he mean ghasts? So the man's portal was damaged by ghasts, and he needed to repair it. Was that it?

I watched in awe as the frame filled with a purplish liquid that seemed to flow upwards instead of out towards us, and as purple particles floated in the air around the frame. Strange, creepy sounds came from the portal as the purple liquid swirled and pulsated dark light. Once again, the man looked behind him, and once again I could see his face. I didn't know why, but somehow the man looked familiar. I brushed the thought away, it was probably just my imagination.

The man stepped right in front of the Nether portal, and spoke once more. "They'd never believe me, even if I did tell them. This netherworld will remain a secret. Hah, maybe that's what I'll call it, the Nether." And with that, he stepped forth and was sucked into the purple liquid, leaving me in shock.

I knew this man. He was my ancestor. This very event had taken place four thousand years ago. This man was Heiro Paladin. That was why he looked so familiar; he looked exactly like my father. In my stupor, I stumbled forward, and stood too close to the portal. The purple particles swirled around me in another vortex, pulling me into the hell everyone deserved to live without seeing.

I felt a horrible sensation of being ripped apart. Because that's what portals do, they take you apart in one dimension, atom by atom, then reassemble you in the next one.

When the agony subsided, I opened my eyes. But instead of seeing the pale blood-red netherrack and abundant fires and lavafalls I had seen portrayed in books, I was standing on a tower, built above a stark-white landscape. The tower was pitch black, made of solid obsidian. The sky above me made my knees weak just looking at it. It was pure static, grayish, speckled with millions of different dull colors, so many that the sky appeared to be only gray.

Once again, around me were purple particles. They swirled around my feet and worked their way upward. Caught in the storm, a series of images flashed through my head, slowly at first, then so fast I was beginning to feel nauseated, as if the purple storm wasn't already taking care of that. I didn't catch most of the pictures, but what I did catch did nothing but confuse me. First, I saw a huge forest, one known as mega taiga. A spruce wood city was built on the tree tops, high above the ground. Next a wolf, six feet tall and nine feet long, running between the trees. After that, a boy's face, darkish hair and eyes like pure flames. There was no sound, but I could swear he was calling my name. After that, two other boys, slightly younger, looking identical to each other, but the one on the left had blue eyes and the one on the right had hazel. Then, the images were so fast I couldn't make them out. But in the background of every image was an enormous dragon, getting closer every picture I saw. In seconds it was so close, I was staring right into its immense purple eyes, the same color as the vortex. I heard high pitched screaming, faintly recognizable. It might've been me. Then the pictures shattered like glass, and I was thrown into reality.

-{0}-

"Jade! _Jade!_ Stop screaming! Wake up!"

I shot upright in bed, grasping my neck in an effort to stop my shrieks. _Calm down, calm down, oh, Notch, whycan'tIcalmdown?! _My breath was coming in short gasps, and I couldn't slow it down. My mother gripped my shoulders.

"Jade, what's wrong! Be quiet! They'll hear you! Oh, Jade, you've got to calm down!" I clamped my jaws shut. Get a grip, I told myself. My shrieks subsided, but I couldn't slow down my breathing.

"Deep breaths," Sadie told me. "What was in your dream this time?" I shook my head, struggling to do as my mother said. "I-it was…I don't know, all these pictures…It's not real, it can't be real…" I don't know what it was about the dream that really scared me. It just struck a certain kind of terror inside me, an unexplainable terror.

"Hush," Sadie whispered. She put her finger to my lips. "No, it isn't real. Of course it's not." She, too was sitting up, probably awoken by my screaming. Why did I scream? I haven't screamed since I was ten…

"But you need to be quiet," my mother whispered. "We're under a mob attack. You know zombies are attracted to sound."

I looked up in shock. Mob attack?! Oh, Notch no. At least one person died during a mob attack, which might happen once or twice a year. Usually there were several fatalities. And, yes, zombies swarmed when they heard a noise. There were probably twenty of them milling around outside our door, attracted by my screaming.

"Since when?" I asked. Looking around the room, I noticed Sadie had boarded up the windows and the door, and her diamond sword was lying on the table, ready for use. "About midnight. It's near dawn now, hopefully they'll let up soon."

Hopefully. Huh.

-{0}-

"Are they gone?" My voice was naïvely hopeful. Sadie peered through a crack in the boarded window. "I…I think so, actually. But they could just be planning an ambush. That's happened before."

I stepped up to the window, wanting to see for myself. Sadie moved so I could. I stood on my toes and gazed at our village. It was empty, nothing moved. The animals kept in pens behind the houses had been spared, thankfully. Actually, most of the village was spared. That wasn't unusual for a mob attack, they only tried to kill the people.

"I hope they're gone," I muttered. I was about to back up, when a purple flash caught my eye. "What the—" I whispered. Suddenly, something tall and black appeared right in front of my face, shrouded in a thin purple mist.

I was face to face with the most feared of all mobs—The Enderman. My jaw dropped, and suddenly I couldn't take in any air. It stared at me, glowing eyes pulsating. Our faces were separated by only a thin pane of glass and some wood.

That was when the creature opened its maw and _spoke._ At first, through the glass, it only sounded like ragged breathing. But then, I was able to make out one word: 'Aenj.' The Enderman vanished, and I was plunged into a memory I had tried so hard to forget.

-{0}-

I was six years old. It was mid-winter, and my parents were asleep. I was standing by the door, straining to hear the mobs outside. They fascinated me. I didn't stop to consider the fact that they could just kill me without a thought. I was six, cut me some slack.

The iron door rattled furiously. I didn't know what was on the other end. My mother had forgotten to lock the door like she did every other night, so mobs could simply stroll in. That's what _it_ did.

A tall black figure appeared, right in front of me. It shrieked, and that shriek was probably what saved my life. It scratched me on my cheek, but that was all the damage the Enderman could do before my father woke up. He was lightning quick, grabbing a sword and fighting the creature to the death.

Neither won.

They took each other's lives, my father dying first. The Enderman then collapsed, twitching as its life drained away. It kept saying one word, though. Aenj. Aenj. Over and over. Aenj. Aenj. Not stopping until it dissolved. Until it died.

-{0}-

**Well, that's done. **

**So, what do **_**you**_** think the significance of Aenj is? Is it a name, a place, a thing? You'll hear this word a lot more in the story, I promise you.**

**Kind of a shorter chapter this time, but this will be the average length of most of them, I think.**

**I tend to write very fast-paced, so please tell me if you think I'm going too fast. A lot of writers have this problem, and it's a hard habit to break. **

**Honestly, guys, I would really appreciate some more reviews**. **I have to know how to make this fanfic better. Or it won't get better. Simple as that.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hoped you liked it. Third chapter will be up probably before the week is done. I'll be more motivated to work on it if I get some good reviews, though.**

**Auf Wiedersehen! (German for goodbye)**


	4. The Skeleton's Arrow

**Happy Halloween, my dear readers! Even though that's tomorrow….Meh. Today I bring you chapter 3: The Skeleton's Arrow.**

**I would like to say this now to get it out of the way: All of you who made a guess for Aenj were wrong. You weren't **_**not**_** close, if that makes sense. I don't expect any of you to do this, but if you sat and **_**really**_** thought about it, you'd probably be able to get it. And trust me, I think you'll know if you get it. (If you ever do get it, PM me to say you got it! No telling nobody, alright?!) Excuse my grammar. I don't normally write like that. **

**Wow, I said the phrase 'get it' like, five times in that paragraph.**

**Also, I would like to thank those of you who reviewed. This includes RenThePyro, Mellifluousness, and FrozenStarryNights. You guys are awesome.**

**And now, let the chapter commence!**

**-{0}-**

My head was pounding, my heart racing. My breathing was ragged and uneven. I lay beneath the red woolen covers of my shared bed, staring at the cobblestone ceiling. _Why me?_ I thought. _Why me. _Why was I plagued with these nightmares? Why could I never sleep peacefully? I couldn't get enough rest when I needed it most.

The next morning was the tests. I would take them over a three day period. Two the first time, one day of rest, and the last three the next day. I believe a week after the tests, the main part of the Initiation Program would begin. I knew I would pass these tests, but how would I be able to focus with no rest?

These stupid nightmares usually only occurred when I was stressed or nervous. I hated them so much. They were similar each time, usually having obsidian pillars and strange off-white hills. Images including, yes, a giant wolf, a boy, twins, and always, always, a dragon.

Yes. A dragon. Dragons were extinct. There used to be three types: Nether, Aether, and OverEarth. The Nether dragons obviously lived only in the Nether, and were red with orange horns, teeth and claws, with yellow patterns covering it. The Aether dragon was sky blue, with dark blue horns, claws and teeth, also with yellow patterns covering its body. The OverEarth dragon was grassy green with dark green horns, teeth, and claws, again having yellow patterns. Sometimes, some people claimed to have tamed dragons. No one really believed them. Dragons were wild creatures, answering to no one. Nonetheless, dragons were still gone, forever. And no dragons were black with purple eyes.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and laid my head on the thin pillow. SLEEP, I thought. But no, sleep was far off. My eyes opened again, and I groaned hopelessly.

"Oh, this is useless," I snapped out loud. I hauled myself out of the bed, briefly glancing at Sadie's sleeping form, worried I had woken her. No, she could sleep, unlike me. Unfair.

I grabbed my jacked and put it on. It had no sleeves, but it had a thick black sheep wool lining, and was very warm. Next, I reached into our storage chest and pulled out my trusty jungle-wood bow. Three feet long, crafted with great care by yours truly. I took out my quiver with arrows with flint tips, and put on a diamond helmet. Lastly, I grabbed a thin strip of leather and tied back my long, thick dark hair. Before I left, I glanced at my mother, still asleep. I watched briefly for a moment, then vanished outside, into the night.

I don't do this often, but on nights like this, when I can't sleep, I go mob-hunting. There is a jungle whose trees towered over our village day and night; we live in their shadow. Mobs love the jungle, especially the hostile ones. They can travel there by day and not suffer in the rays of the sun. At night, the jungle is where they flourish. Usually they were no match for me; I had the speed of an experienced archer. My arrows fly fast, and those mobs never know what hit them.

I never kill creepers, though. They are Crysallxius's relatives, and he doesn't kill humans.

I hid my bow inside my jacket as I trotted down the gravel path to the jungle. It is against the rules to have weapons inside the village, except for the guards.

The night air was cold, the half moon high. The small stars glittered far above my head. No one really knew what the stars were. Some said they were undiscovered dimensions. I thought they were faraway suns, shining on other OverEarths.

I walked up a small slope that led to a torch, shining beneath the trees. This torch marked the beginning of the exile path. When villagers were sentenced to exile, they were shunned from the village forever. If they were seen, they could be legally killed. The torch-lit path led through the jungle, across a river, and to the shore of an ocean. The exiled would sail away on a boat, never to return.

I hoped I would never have to walk that path.

-{0}-

Although my bow was not a crossbow, I wielded it like one, holding it horizontally instead of vertically. It was how I had taught myself to shoot, and I found it much easier to use that way.

At the moment, I was tiptoeing through the undergrowth, looking for a target. Hearing something behind me, I silently leaped to a tree's trunk and slipped behind it, nocking an arrow. I pressed my back to the rough trunk, turning my head sideways in an attempt to see what had made the sound.

Skeleton.

There it was, standing not twelve feet away, its bones rattling as it looked around for…something. Me. It must've been me that it saw.

I drew back the bowstring, inching around the side of the trunk to get a better view. It was still glancing around, bow nocked, ready to fire.

"Yah!" I jumped out from behind my tree's cover, letting my arrow fly. But something peculiar happened. Right after I yelled, the skeleton must've been startled, and it shot its arrow in my direction. By some stroke of luck, it got the aim right, and the projectile would've made a home in my brain, had I not fired when I did.

Time seemed to slow down. The arrows sailed through the air towards each other, aimed exactly at the other. The tips met in midair, my arrow splitting the skeleton's perfectly in half before burying itself in the mob's right eye socket.

My jaw dropped ever so slightly. How the Nether did I do that? I stared down at the weapon in my hand. Arrows colliding in air and splitting the other down the shaft…That kind of thing only happened in adventure novels. Besides, it was impossible, or so I thought.

Apparently it wasn't.

-{0}-

"Jade. Get up. You're late."

"Uggghh," was my response.

"Jade! Come on now! Exam today!"

"Let me sleep…"

"Jade."

Sadie's voice was barely registering in my mind. In my groggy state, I couldn't care less about the _exams…_ Who cares about exams? Who cares about…Oh, crap!

I was up instantly, throwing off the covers of my bed, grabbing my jacket from the floor and tossing it on. I hadn't washed my trademark teal t-shirt or purple shorts in two days, which I guess was pretty disgusting, but at the moment, I didn't care. Had to get to that schoolhouse…Had to take those exams…

"Here, eat this quickly." Sadie tossed me a watermelon slice, which I devoured.

"Thanks, Mom!" I sprinted to the door, grogginess forgotten.

"Wait!" My mother stopped me from leaving by grabbing the hood of my jacket and yanking me back. "Ow," I complained, stumbling backwards.

"Sorry," she said. "You're not _that_ late, you still have a few minutes left." I glanced at her. So why couldn't I just go now? "Mom, what do you need to tell me?"

She sighed. "Jade, did you go night hunting again." I looked at her with a measured glance.

"Yes…"

Sadie shook her head. "You know I don't like you doing that. It's too dangerous."

I tilted my head. How'd she know, anyway? I asked her.

"Your jacket and bow were lying on the floor. They weren't there when I went to sleep."

Stupid! I mentally slapped myself.

I hung my head. "I'm sorry, Mom. I couldn't sleep; I had to do something…"

She pursed her lips. "Again?" I nodded. "Jade, I wish I could fix your nightmares, but I can't. You're going to have to learn to live with them."

_That is _much _easier said than done,_ I thought. I didn't say so, though.

"That's okay," I said. "I'll be fine, Mom. I have to leave, now, so…"

She nodded. "One last thing." She stepped forward and gave me a hug. I was a tiny bit surprised.

"Good luck, my daughter," came her voice. "Though I don't think you'll need it." Her words had a strange sense of finality to them. She pulled away, and I saw the troubled look in her eyes. What was bugging her?

"Goodbye," I said, rather uncertainty. "I'll tell you about it when I get home." I started towards the door, about to leave for good.

"That'd be just fine," Sadie whispered. "Goodbye."

I slipped out the door, stepping out onto the forge. I was worried. Worried for my tests, worried for my mother, worried for myself and my dreams, and worried about what had happened two nights ago with Crysallxius. I was being weighed down by iron blocks, but I was strong enough to carry that weight. I would ace these tests, and tend to my other issues later. I would forget about my other problems till I walked out of the schoolhouse door at the end of the day.

-{0}-

**Well, alright!**

**Another short chapter. My chapters will not have a set length; they will be as long as I feel they need to be.**

**[IMPORTANT]- I need OC's! The next chapter may not be possible without them. All of you can send in one OC in a review, and I will randomly select six to be in this story. Yes, it is RANDOM. I'll probably draw 'em out of a hat or something. I'll need you to tell me anything about your character that you think is necessary, including appearance, gender(duh), age, personality, and other special traits. No hating on me if your character isn't chosen. I'll announce results next chapter.**

**Which may take a while. I've got three long-term projects for school, and homework always comes before writing. At least it should. I'm usually writing these chapters anywhere from nine to eleven pm at night, because I get boatloads of homework. It's 10:20 pm right now, actually. Not when you read this, though.**

**Anyway, once again, happy Halloween! **

**Until next time…Adios, amigos!**

**Okay, that was kind of corny.**

**Bye!**


	5. Warning

**Mm, I don't really feel like randomly picking these OC's. If you want to send some more OC's, you have to PM me. I recently learned that it's against site rules to ask for OC's in reviews, so if you give me one in a review, I'll ignore it. Except for those who didn't know that before now.**

**Anyway… I'm going to try to incorporate all the OC's I think will work. If yours isn't in this story, don't take it bad. **

**I have to work on the more poorly developed ones so they can fit into the story.**

**Cassandra from AzureAngel. Renamed Azure.**

**Yorrick from RenThePyro.**

**Possibly the three from Mellifluousness.**

**These are the ones that will most likely appear in this fanfiction. Okay, I'll let you read now.**

**-(0)-**

The first test I had to take was on all mobs. The questions were ridiculously long; the first twenty were like, 'Describe a surface spider. Describe a creeper. Describe a cockatrice. Describe a blaze.' Describe a _whatever. _By the seventeenth question, it was getting kind of old.

I was sitting in my regular seat in the small schoolhouse, Rysa, Torren, and Selena sitting nearby. My old teacher was sitting at her desk, looking extremely bored, with her head tilted back, staring at the ceiling. She was right to be bored, though. She had to sit there for an hour and a half before she would hand out the second test—then sit there for another hour and a half.

Maybe this was easy for me, but at least I got to do something. I moved to the next question. Describe an aerwhale. Okay, now I was ready to throw this test across the room.

I quickly answered the describe questions, ready to move on to something else. Next, it was asking me to describe the mobs' native biomes. First it was like, 'Where would you find a horse?' And I was like, 'In a plain or savanna.' Moving on, I realized that it was going to be like this all day. Answering questions that were 99% the same as the last ones. Yawn.

_I wonder if this will someday pay off, _I thought. I doubted it.

-{0}-

Two hours later, and I was taking the second test. This one was on math, language arts, history, and geography. You'd think there wouldn't be much in the geography section, there only being four countries. I had to name all the countries, and write down what they meant in today's language. They where: Xirnies, Naetheer, Wynar, and Exilcinus. North, South, West, and East. Then I had to name the capitals of each country. Then I had to name the country I lived in. Exilcinus, the East.

I breezed through this, wanting the day to just be over. I had issues to deal with.

I let out a small sigh of relief as I answered the very last question. Looking around, I noticed the other three were finishing as well. Mrs. Jackson slowly rose from her chair, and collected our tests.

"You all can leave now," she said. "Come back in two days for your last three tests."

I stood up and stepped on the desks as I made my way to the door. Neither Torren nor Rysa waited for me outside. I stood by the steps to the schoolhouse, watching them leave, my face expressionless. What the...Jerks. Why didn't they wait? Hey…Were they holding hands? Whoa, man. My eyes did not deceive me.

I heard the door open, and Selena climbed down the steps. She had a pissed-off look on her face. Notch, what was with her? She stepped right up to me and tried to get in my face. I was pinned to the oak wood wall of the schoolhouse, forced to look her in the eye.

"Hey, Jade!" she hissed.

"Um…What?" I asked, irritably. Her breath didn't smell too great, and it was billowing in my face.

"I have a theory! About the Enderman. Maybe they just had lived underground for all time, and discovered the surface when man found the stronghold before the war."

I rolled my eyes. And coughed. "Did it seriously take you that long to come up with that?" She only glared at me.

I sighed. "Look…You know how when you stand near a portal to the Nether or Aether, clocks go crazy? Well, when people went down into the stronghold, their clocks went crazy! That's why people think there's a fourth dimension. It's the only logical explanation for it. Now, get out of my face."

She muttered something else I couldn't make out, then, left. I smiled a small bit, but then the smile faded. Proving her wrong didn't really make me feel that great. I was too bogged down by…other things.

What I didn't say was that her theory wasn't wrong, or really even half bad. Considering what had happened with the War of the Realms…It was the bloodiest war ever.

I quickly walked home. It must've been maybe forty degrees outside, cold even in the jungle. I cursed, my jacket having no sleeves. My leather boots made crunching sounds as I trudged down the gravel path. For a moment I forced myself to concentrate only on those sounds. And then all my problems invaded my mind, once only occupied by warmer jackets and crunchy gravel noises. And to add to the list, I now had Rysa and Torren to be irritated at. All that holding hands business…They completely forgot about me.

I stopped in front of my house, wishing it could be bigger. And warmer. It couldn't be bigger because the mayor didn't allow it. There had to be room for new houses, not larger ones. It wasn't warm in our house because we didn't have glowstone. Redstone lamps just weren't enough.

Anyway, I walked inside to find my mother gone. Off mining. I was home alone. Probably for the rest of the day.

I collapsed on the bed, exhausted. I got next to no sleep last night. It was time to catch up. I could only hope my nightmares would give me a break this time.

They didn't.

-{0}-

Up this high, the air was very cold. It didn't bother her, though. She was used to it. Her golden-colored wings beat slowly to keep her airborne. She was scanning the landscape, the small and large floating islands. She watched the aerwhales lazily glide through the breaks in the land, occasionally getting stuck in the terrain. How lucky they are, she thought. They have no cares in the world, besides getting stuck in a floating hunk of land. And even if that happened, a Valkyrie would free them. Yes, their problems were pretty much taken care of. They had nothing to worry about. Unlike her.

She was the Valkyrie queen. Her name was Vivian. And she had a problem.

The new prophecy. It had been written. It was ready, as it had been for sixteen years. Vivian just hadn't worked up enough courage to read it until now. But she had to read it, then report to Notch, AKA her father, AKA the god of everything. But she—a queen—was too scared of what she would read.

She was young for a queen—only fourteen thousand years—so maybe she had an excuse to be scared. But still, she had to do this now. The sooner Notch knew, the better.

Slowly, she turned in midair, and started to fly back to the palace, known to some as a silver dungeon. Soon, it came into view.

It was white, made of quartz, and rectangular shaped. It had a sloping, triangular roof, supported on each side by enormous pillars. At the front were grand steps, which was where she landed. Making her way up the steps, a few Valkyries hanging out there gave her a respectful nod. She returned the nod, hoping she didn't look as scared as she felt. She couldn't let them know that. She was the queen. Queens don't show fear.

She entered the palace, walking down the center of the room. Of course, though, it was much too large to be considered a room. It was simply gargantuan, maybe a hundred meters long.

At the back of the room was a set of double doors, leading to the legend library. It contained every story written, like ones about the mortals of past prophecies. Vivian pushed through the doors, and was greeted by a labyrinth of bookshelves. At the center of this room was the enchanting table, and she needed to find it. Vivian knew her way through this maze, and quickly located the table. It was magical, obviously. One of the only sources of magic left in the world. Four thousand years ago, magic was used much more often, and in many different ways. Not anymore. Magic was mostly lost.

The book on the center of the obsidian and diamond table flipped open as Vivian came near. Symbols from the surrounding bookshelves floated towards the book's enchanted pages. Sensing her desires, the pages of the book started rapidly turning. This book wasn't only used for enchanting. It held many secrets, one of them being the new prophecy. That's what the floating letters were writing. Mortals could not see those pages. If they could…Vivian shuddered at the thought.

Gazing at the page of the prophecy, Vivian realized it was written in the old language. She could read it, of course. But she didn't want to. The dreadful anticipation was overbearing, though.

Sighing, she took a scroll out of her robes. When she opened the scroll, the words from the book's page vanished, then reappeared on the paper. The book snapped shut, then laid flat on the table, refusing to open again.

She had to keep the words of the prophecy safe from the prying eyes of the Valkyries. Removing the words of the prophecy from the book was Notch's order.

"Okay, I'm not avoiding this any longer. I'm going to read it." Vivian announced to no one. She was feeling brave at the moment. Of course this feeling wouldn't last. She had to read it _now._

So she opened the scroll. And she read it.

_The East bears a girl_

_Her destiny shall unfurl._

_A murder by the wolf_

_Her arrow in the turf._

'_Cross the sea she'll go_

_Due North to the land of snow._

_The boy with eyes of flames_

_The Phoenix's soul he'll claim._

_The spirit of flame betrays the sky_

_He seals his fate with every lie._

_The queen of the End_

_Six curses she shall send._

_One with dreams of shadow_

_The one who wields the arrows._

_Two with a forgotten past_

_Saves the knight from the deadly blast._

_Three with a cursed blade_

_Whose strength slowly away does fade._

_Four lost in a distant land_

_Beneath the mound of moaning sand._

_Five who cannot speak her mind_

_Tied to the sky city are her binds._

_Six to hell his soul is doomed_

_With his death, shadows are consumed._

_Aenj, the name of death itself_

_To war with thee the six shall delve._

Vivian let it sink in. Then she dropped the scroll.

"Oh, Notch," whispered Vivian. It was worse than she had expected. She dropped her head, only one thought going through her head: Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no.

Suddenly, the room became darker. A chill in the air. Vivian felt it. Her head snapped up, wildly gazing around. A dark, choking mist seemed to swirl along the ground, snaking up the bookshelves and trying to reach the queen. Vivian coughed, trying to see.

"Scared?" A raspy voice echoed throughout the room, tone faintly mocking.

"W-what?" Vivian said, confused. "Who's there?" She was truly afraid now. She was not alone in the library. She could sense a presence, a presence as old as time itself. A dark, corrupted presence.

"Thy prophecy spells out thy demise, queen. What will thou do about it?"

Vivian's fear was growing. She couldn't see; it was too dark. "Who are you?" she called, voice shaky.

"I am…Jean. Shame we shall never meet in person. Thou shalt be destroyed long before my victory, I'm afraid!"

The voice was coming from everywhere at once. Vivian looked around wildly. "S-show yourself!" She stammered.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible. I have other more important matters to be tending to at the moment, so let me say this now: Thou art doomed, queen. Everything thou control, and everything thou does not will be soon gone. No one has the ability to stop me. I am the darkness! The darkness that consumes the light. Thy light. Thou cannot oppose me! Not thou. Not Notch."

Vivian stumbled backwards against a bookcase. She was fully terrified now. "What do you want?" She cried out. Her question was never answered.

"Not even a god."

-{0}-

**Ooh! Cliffhanger! Sort of.**

**Look, I know I'm not great with Old English. Please correct me.**

**And this has been chapter four. I appreciate reviews. Do not hesitate to write one. And also, I can take criticism, so please give it to me.**

**Again, if you have an OC, you must PM me about it. If you put it in a review, it will be ignored. As I said earlier. I think the next chapter may have some action, but I can't promise anything.**

**And that is all.**


	6. Diamond in the Rough

**Ya know, I don't really have much to say in this author's note. Other than…Um, I think there will be some violence in this chapter. I won't warn you every time, of course. I'm just looking for something to say. And again, I'm still accepting OC's. Most likely your OC will now be a minor character, as I've planned out the main ones (mostly). **

**Anyway, let us commence with the next chapa!**

**-{0}-**

This time, when I woke up from my nightmares, I wasn't screaming. I was cussing. Like a sailor. I shot to my feet in a rage, punching the nearest thing. That nearest thing happened to be Sadie's iron helmet, hanging on the wall.

I recoiled, clutching my fist and cussing a little louder. I hopped around, sucking in air through my gritted teeth. I ran into the wall and sank to the floor, clamping my mouth shut so no one could hear me.

I studied my hand. The knuckles were red, but I hadn't hit the hunk of iron that hard, so everything else was fine. I tilted my head back and stared at the ceiling.

"Notch, why am I such an idiot? And why does an idiot like me deserve all these problems?" I asked. I waited a moment, but Notch didn't respond. I sighed, wallowing in self-pity. I ran down a list of my problems: I was now a third wheel. My mother was sad. Giant wolves? Bad dreams. Stupid Endermen.

"Ugghh," I groaned aloud. I had been cussing mostly out of anger deprived from the fact I could not sleep. I needed sleep! Why couldn't I get any?

Now that I was awake, I knew there was no way I could get any rest now. I hauled myself to my feet, feeling like I weighed a few tons more than normal. I stood with my hand against the wall for a moment. I needed to gather my strength before walking. As soon as I did, I lumbered over to the window by my bed to check the sun's position. It was too bad we didn't have a clock; it might've saved me a few extra steps that I wouldn't have to walk.

Anyway, it seemed about dusk. And the house was empty. Strange, Sadie was usually back by now. Stepping back from the window, my eyes fell on the iron helmet on the wall. I got an idea.

Well, it wasn't like anything else was on my agenda, so…What the hey?

I grabbed the helmet and put it on. It wasn't entirely flat on the top; it had a low point towards the back. A thin part of the helmet came over the bridge of my nose, and in the back, it came down over the whole back of my head.

I knelt next to the mining chest, next to the door. I rummaged through it and brought out an iron pickax, a pair of iron boots, and some unlit torches and single iron ingot and shard of flint. I would need no other weapon other than my bow and arrows.

I had decided to go find my mother. Not that I thought she was lost, I just felt like mining with her. And I was looking for an excuse to kill something.

I slipped on my jacket and the iron boots. I grabbed a backpack and packed up my things. My bow, although powerful, was pretty small, and because of the no weapons rule, I had to hide it in my jacket along with my arrows. I zipped my jacket and was ready to go.

I strolled out of my boxy home and walked down the gravel road. I kept my composure as I neared Torren and Rysa's houses. I couldn't let them have the satisfaction of knowing they where pissing me off.

The entrance to the mines was on the outside of town. It was a square oak wood building with a stone triangular roof. On the inside were several double chests where we stored basic mining equipment such as stone swords, pics, and some un-smelted ores. In the center of the building was the hole that led to the tunnels.

Before I descended into the underground, I hefted my pic on my shoulder. I lowered myself over the lip of the hole, and felt with my foot for the first rung of the ladder. Finding it, I quickly began my descent. The hole went very deep, possibly almost halfway to bedrock, the unbreakable stone separating the OverEarth from the Void.

The Void was the pit of nothingness between the dimensions. Fall into the Void and you're…well, dead. But you don't die, you're just…snuffed out, like a flame. There's no pain, just…nothing. No afterlife. Your soul dissolves, so it can't travel to the Aether.

I soon reached the bottom of the hole and stepped on the solid stone. The mouth of a tunnel gaped before me, lined with torches.

I trotted along, bow ready. My iron boots clicked every time I took a step, so there was no stealth here.

The tunnel winded on. There wasn't any coal or iron; it was already mined. Just the walls of stone and torches. Listening, I couldn't hear any mobs. Dang. I wanted nothing more than to shoot something. I had to take my anger out on _something._

As I plodded along, I cast long, creepy shadows on the walls. The tunnel was the same. No ores, no mobs. Silence. That was it. Eerie.

But soon, I came to another hole. This was much larger in diameter than the one that led to the surface, with rough walls. A waterfall flowed from under the rock just beneath me. I couldn't see the bottom, but there was no other way to go. I put my pic into my bag and slung my bow over my shoulder. Taking a deep breath, I bent my knees. And jumped.

The jump was accurate. I sailed through the underground air for a few moments before I began to fall. It was one of those long falls where your heart feels like it's crawling up out of your chest and into your throat. The air whistled in my ears and my long, dark hair billowed above my head like a river of ink. As I neared the bottom, the lake—fed by the waterfall—came into view.

It was deep. I landed with a loud splash, not being able to touch the bottom as I sank deep below the surface. I kicked hard and swam upwards to the surface. For just a moment, my heart felt heavy. It had been my father who had taught me to swim…

I pushed the thought aside. I surfaced, and the sounds of the waterfall and my splashing assaulted my ears. Underwater, sounds were nullified. I reached for the edge of the pool and clambered out of it. I was sopping wet and freezing cold. But I couldn't care less. Quickly, I took off my boots and dumped the water out of them before putting them back on.

I set off down the tunnel once more. This one was shorter. It led to a large cavern with three other tunnels branching off, all of them marked by torches. Great. What now?

"Mom!" I yelled. Maybe she'd hear me and answer. I could find her that way easily. I waited for a response. And waited. Then, I faintly heard a noise from the tunnel on the far left.

"…Jade?" Very far away, but definitely her.

"Yeah! Hold on! I'm comin'!"

I started down the tunnel from which her voice came from. I ran this time, a little slow from the weight I was carrying, but it was faster than walking. I came to a corner and was about to round it, but ran into something that appeared out of nowhere. As I stumbled back and landed on my back, I only had one thought: Zombie?! No. Glancing up, I realized it was Sadie. She looked rather surprised. She blinked a few times, then her eyes widened.

"Jade, what's wrong? Why are you down here?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, Mom. Just bored. And it's been awhile since I've been down here."

She nodded like she understood. "Well, okay." She gave me a second glance, noticing how wet I was. "I see you took the easy way down. Anyway, I was about to head back, but I guess we could stay the night down here, if you'd want."

Oh, would I ever.

"Oh, sure!" I got to my feet, eager to mine. It was true, I hadn't been down there for maybe six whole months. "Where are we going?"

She flashed me a smile. "I haven't explored very deep into this tunnel! I have a good feeling we'll strike diamond if we keep going."

Diamond! Yes! The most sought-out ore of them all. We had maybe three at home, but Sadie was saving them for when her pic wore down.

"Let's go, then," I said. Sadie turned and strolled around the corner, I following close behind. The line of torches ended right there, actually. Walking a bit farther, Sadie placed one on the wall and it caught fire, illuminating the hall. This tunnel was a short one; it ended at another corner. We quickly walked towards the bend. My mother paused, but I kept going. I would've fallen to my death, had she not grabbed my jacket hood and pulled me back.

I then stopped and looked down. And my jaw dropped.

"Oh. My. Notch," I breathed. Stretched beneath the tiny ledge on which I stood was a _massive_ underground ravine. Immensely wide and long, in fact, so long that I couldn't see it's ends. A pale fog preventing me from seeing very far in both directions. At the ravine's bottom was a river of lava. I could hear it bubbling and popping from this high up. There were also some waterfalls tumbling from ledges into the lava, creating obsidian. I could almost see it from here. Various ores lined the ravine walls, such as lapis lazuli, redstone, iron, coal…But no diamonds.

"Jade, look." Sadie stepped up next to me and pointed at the far right end of the ravine. Looking hard, I could faintly see a pale blue glimmer.

"Diamonds," I whispered. Sadie nodded. "Exactly. We just need to get to 'em."

-{0}-

Which proved to be much harder than I thought.

About an hour later, we had walked along the ledge high above the lava river till we were as close to the diamonds as we could've been. Sadie had started mining a sort of stairway down to the ravine's floor, and I was keeping watch for mobs. There hadn't been anything so far.

Glancing down, I could see Sadie was a little more than halfway down. There was no need for torches to light her way; the lava took care of that.

The diamonds were on the opposite side of the ravine, just above the lava. Nearby was a waterfall, creating the black glass on the lava's surface.

I sat down against the stony wall, letting out a sigh as I did so. I scanned the ravine bottom, hoping to find a mob to snipe with my bow. My eyes fell on a skeleton, to far away to give us any trouble, but a skeleton nonetheless. I nocked an arrow and aimed at the skeleton's head. I let go of the string, sending the projectile flying.

It never knew what hit it. It had time to utter one last cry before my arrow made a home in its empty skull. It slumped over, stumbling into the lava and disappearing from the face of the OverEarth.

I tilted my head, thinking about what I just did. I felt something I had never felt before. Guilt. Why should I feel guilty about killing a vicious murdering machine? My mother told me that terrible people were resurrected as zombies and skeletons when they died. If that was true, then why should I feel guilty from getting rid of them?

I'd never know.

"Jade! I'm down! Come help!" Hearing my mother's call, I stood up and jogged down the stone staircase. Sure enough, Sadie had reached the bottom. I hopped off the last few steps, joining her.

"Now we have to build a path across the lava to reach the diamonds," she said, pointing to them. "And, Jade, please be careful. This is dangerous work." I vigorously nodded. I understood.

And so the path building began. Sadie used cobblestone blocks to build across, crouching low to place them. Before long, we made it over.

"Here, you mine the diamonds. You've never done that before, have you?" Sadie asked. I shook my head. Sadie moved to the side to make room for me. I took out my iron pic and hit the sparkling blocks with it. Before long, it cracked apart and left behind a single diamond. I picked it up and held it close to my face. It gleamed like it had been polished. I could almost see my own reflection in it.

I handed it to my mother, and she put it in her bag. I mined all the rest of them, and soon all five were safely in Sadie's bag.

She sighed and stretched. She turned to me. "What say you we head back up? I'm rather tired, now. It's pretty late."

My face fell. I had been enjoying this, and didn't really want to leave yet. But I was tired, and no matter how terrible my dreams were this time, I was determined to sleep this time.

"All right," I agreed. "Let's go home."

-{0}-

It wasn't long before we were out of the ravine and in the cavern. Instead of going back to the surface, we had decided to spend tonight in the cave. Sadie had set up a two-block high wall around where we would sleep, and on the inside of that, a one-block wall so we could climb out easily.

Using the flint and steel in my bag, we lit a small fire to keep us warm. Our bags where on the little ledge, pics lying on the ground. Sadie was already asleep, and I was drifting off. Before I did, I put out the fire as not to alert any mobs that we were here. I wanted a peaceful night under ground.

I took off my jacket and used it as a pillow. I was really too tired to care how comfortable I was. As my eyes closed, I whispered a prayer to Notch, hoping he could hear me from the Aether. I asked him to take away my dreams for one night. I could only hope he could hear me.

Apparently he did. I didn't dream at all that night.

-{0}-

**Well, okay. No action in this chapter. Definitely the next, though.**

**I'm going to get on a schedule, now. Lately my grades in school have decided to take a nosedive. They've slipped from A's to B's, and I need to fix that.**

**Expect one chapter a week. Possibly two. That's the best I can do for you guys. But over school breaks, I'll probably post more often. And, on a slightly unrelated note, I'll be answering review questions in the author's note in the next chapter instead of directly PM-ing you with the answer. It's just easier.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Later!**


	7. The Zombie's Den

**Hey, guys.**

**I'm starting to get REALLY anxious to get to the plot of this story. It's moving so slooooowly…**

**I honestly just want to skip all the next parts and get to an action scene. But of course I can't do that. So I will attempt to be patient. I'm not very good at that.**

**I didn't like my last chapter. I don't feel I did very good on it, so I'll probably update that. Probably.**

**Respond to reviews:**

**(**_**Note: I'll only respond to reviews from the previous chapter.)**_

**Mellifluousness: I apologize for the choppy sentences. And the pic/pick thing. I was lazy.**

**RenThePyro: Yeah, unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to revise the chapter before I posted it. So that explains the repetitions.**

**Another note: When I'm done with part one, I'll start editing the chapters to get it as perfect as possible. Unless I fail so badly at something that I can't afford to not fix it.**

**-{0}-**

I was woken this time by low-pitched moans, coming from somewhere off to my right. Blinking, I raised my head, trying to remember where I was. The stony ground didn't look familiar….Oh, yeah. I was mining down here with my mom, and we spent the night.

_Grooaahhhgg._

Another moan. Zombie? It sounded like one to me. I gazed around to look at Sadie's sleeping form on the other side of where the fire was.

"Mom," I hissed. She didn't move. "Mom!"

Slowly, she began to stir. Letting out a fatigued moan, she raised her head, eyes misty with sleep.

"Jade? What is it? It feels so early.." I rolled my eyes.

"Mom, how would you be able to tell? And we may have bigger problems than lack of sleep; I'm hearing zombies."

With great effort, she heaved herself into a sitting position, back against the cobblestone wall around our fire from last night. She reached for her miners' bag and rummaged inside, pulling out an iron sword. I tilted my head, staring. How was it possible that a sword that big could fit into a bag like that? Come to think of it, with all the stuff inside that bag, how could Sadie manage to carry it every other day?

I asked her those questions, but she only grinned. "I'll tell you later. It's a…secret of mine."

What? Oh, well. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and sat up. I took out my bow and a few arrows. I nocked the flint-tipped projectile, and fired at the other side of the wall, mostly just for fun. I remembered a few nights ago, when I had completely owned a skeleton. Was that…merely a lucky shot, or was I just totally badass with a bow? Hmmm…

_Eugghh._

Zombie again. This time, my mother listened. And smiled.

"The zombies are coming from behind that wall." She stood and pointed to the far end of the cavern, over our makeshift wall. It was the farthest away from the exit towards the surface.

"Through a wall? Then we don't have to fight them, then." I have to admit I was disappointed. I still needed to kill something.

"It's a dungeon, Jade," Sadie said. "Of _course _we have to fight them."

-{0}-

"So….What is a dungeon, again? I'm pretty sure I learned this in History, but…."

We were against the wall which the 'dungeon' was behind. My ear was pressed to the cold stone, listening to the zombies shuffle around and moan. My bow was ready, arrow nocked. Sadie was nearby, dual-wielding a pickax and sword.

"Come on, Jade. You _must_ remember. During the War of the Realms, OverEarthians would execute prisoners from the Nether and Aether. They built these dungeons to be used as the worst way to die. They'd throw them down here, and wait for the zombies to finish them off. After the war, they were just used as storage, with the zombies to guard the items from anyone that may find the dungeon. After a while, people forgot about them. Lucky for us, though."

I nodded, now thinking about dying at the hands of zombies. I thought about what it would be like to grow up during the war. I shuddered, but shoved the thought out of my mind.

Sadie began the mine into the stone, stopping only when she reached a cobble wall with moss growing all over it.

"Through here," she whispered. "Once we break in, I'm going to run and surround the spawner with torches. I need you to cover me." She nodded to my bow.

"Got it," I rasped. My heart was pounding so hard, the zombies could probably hear it. I was anxious to break through. I was ready to fight.

"All right," my mother whispered. "One…two…three!"

It was hard to describe what happened next. Sadie leapt through the hole, doing a roll and coming up standing. Letting out a battle cry, she swung her sword blindly, catching a few of the green-skinned undead and sending them down. Over and over again, I fired my arrows, trying to keep the zombies at bay. The thing with zombies was, they would keep getting back up unless you destroyed their brains. I had to shoot through their heads, or it didn't do any good.

Moving fast, Sadie whipped out torched and surrounded the spawner with them. No more zombies could appear, but we still had to kill the remaining ones.

One zombie tried to attack Sadie as she was getting up, and I didn't have a good enough angle to shoot. So I did the only thing I could. I threw myself through the hole, landing on my side, rather ungracefully. I let my arrow fly, taking the zombie down.

Hearing a groan practically _above my head_, I looked up immediately. The undead stood over me, reaching greedily for my face.

"Ah!" I yelled. Not being able to fire at close range, I swung my bow, knocking its rotting legs out from under it. I quickly scrambled to my feet, then rapid-fired with my remaining arrows.

At last, their bodies littered the ground, unmoving. Huh, I thought. That wasn't as difficult as I thought.

My bow dropped to my side, and I relaxed. I glanced over at Sadie. She seemed okay, minus small cuts and the bloodstains on her clothes. Looking down, I realized I was covered in the rancid liquid, too.

The next thing that hit me was the _smell._ I probably would have lost my lunch right then, and the only reason I didn't was because I hadn't had any lunch.

"This is nasty," I grumbled, pinching my nose and walking over to Sadie.

"Well, you didn't expect it to smell like roses, did you? Come on, let's loot the chest."

Suddenly, I remembered the reason we came here in the first place. I followed Sadie over to the small brown box in the corner. Carefully, my mother undid the latch and opened the chest. I practically tried to stand on top of her, trying to see what was inside.

"Be patient," she chided. Slowly, she pulled out the goods inside. Three gold ingots, four bones, and an orange music disc. Nothing very special...except for the green orbs lying in the corner.

"_This _is what we need," Sadie whispered, smiling, as she picked up the viridian gems.

-{0}-

**Extremely short chapter. I'm kinda busy now, so yeah.**

**I promise most action scenes will be MUCH more intense than this one. It was only a dungeon raid, and if you play Minecraft, then you know how un-challenging it is to raid dungeons.**

**At the moment, I'm still accepting OC's in PM's, so feel free to send one. I will try to incorporate him/her into this story.**

**Tschau! Sorry about my German…I can't help using it sometimes. **


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